This invention relates generally to furniture for pleasure boats and more particularly to such furniture which is vertically adjustable.
From time to time it is desirable to raise or lower various items of boat furniture such as boat seats or boat tables. For example, the operator's seat should be in an elevated position during take-off because of the tendency of the bow to rise during acceleration, which would otherwise cut off the operator's vision. Once the acceleration ceases or by artificial trim, the bow lowers back into the water, and the operator's chair could then be lowered. Other examples of the desirability of having such adjustable boat furniture include the seats used on fishing boats which are desirably elevated during fishing and lowered during movement of the boat. Of course, it could also be desirable to have other pieces of furniture such as tables or boating equipment such as a fish locator which can be raised to a desired height when needed and lowered out of the way when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,320 to Ward shows a vertically adjustable boat seat for fishing boats and the like. This particular seat is manually adjustable and includes a number of preset positions for the seat. (See FIG. 3). This particular adjustable boat seat includes a round cylindrical telescoping shaft by means of which the height adjustment is made. It is believed that such round telescoping shafts, while suitable for fishing boats, may not be desirable for power boats because of the higher torques involved which could result in twisting of the seat with respect to the base on which it is mounted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,921 to Rhodes shows a similar boat seat with a lever 16 which is presumably used to adjust the level of the seat. Although this patent shows a generally square pedestal, it does not disclose any internal construction which would keep the seat itself from swiveling with respect to the base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,500 to Hall discloses an adjustable fishing boat platform which includes a round pedestal or tube which is secured within a mounting base by means of bolts. This particular construction would also appear to be sensitive to the twisting torques mentioned above if used on a power boat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,989 to Pearcy shows a pneumatically adjustable pedestal for a boat seat. The pedestal is round in cross section and the lowest portion of the pedestal extends down below the level of the deck. (See FIG. 2) This use of pneumatics to adjust the level of the seat (which apparently is to be used by a fisherman rather than the boat operator) is an advantage, but this particular construction is still believed to be subject to twisting of the boat seat with respect to the base upon the application of torque such as would result from a rapid take-off in a power boat.
Once an operator's seat is elevated during take-off of the boat, there is a substantial force tending to pull the base of the chair out of the deck to which it is mounted. As the operator is forced to the rear of the seat upon take-off, the front of the base is subjected to a considerable force and torque tending to tear the chair base out of the deck. Prior mounting systems are not believed to adequately address this situation in a way which both securely holds the chair in place during take-off and yet is easy to install.